After experiencing many failed attempts of speaking (broken) Dutch and receiving replies in English at the university, I observed that even the supermarkets were no different. Hence making the learning trajectory highly difficult.

The Netherlands are among the most expat friendly countries. One of the prime reasons of this high density of expats is the hospitality of the local people and their welcoming nature towards speaking English.

For an expat, the motivation to learn a language arises when either he is a linguiphile (a person who loves languages) or simply when he is ‘forced’ to learn the language. As a student, I never experienced this ‘push-to-learn’ in The Netherlands as overall living is very comfortable and enjoyable without any expertise of Dutch language.

Apart from a working and business perspective there are also many good reasons to learn the language from the cultural integration and social viewpoint. Now after my studies, since I am employed (as a PhD), I face difficulties with different tax-related issues. Unfortunately there is no English translation for most of the tax forms and furthermore the tax office refuses to talk English. So every time I have to look for my Dutch colleagues (thankfully they are always available) to resolve my tax matters.

As a student, I had enjoyed the escape, but now for all the good reasons I have re-started my Dutch learning journey.